paulc555

Hi all...... Having recently found out that the tyres on my sti track project are competition use only I now have to change them to make the car legal to test on the roads....unfortunate as the grip was something to behold.. anyway.... money being tight and all that..I have two options 1) Fit a set of Toyo t1-R...or GS-D3's which are both good ROAD tyres..... 2) Fit a budget road legal TRACK tyre Hankook etc..... Price wise they are much the same.... My questions are.... Which would provide the better grip on the odd road test and track day.... Does the compound in the track tyre make it generally last longer or shorter than a performance road tyre.... Which would you choose........ Road mileage very limited to be honest...I know I wont get the grip that I have from the tarmac rally tryes on just now..but would hate to compromise the handling to much.....so is track tyre the way to go.... Any advice my friends... thanks very much Paul

wooahhhhhh...excellent sounds my friend.......bet that scared a few sheep.....or goats if you prefer... Paul

Mark......it did take a while to get sorted but got there in the end....stayed with A-Plan...had my last 3 scoobs insured through them.....and they were pretty fair about it.......so far...... Stephen...thanks for the top marks mate..if only I had done that well at school.....

Frank...mechanically the car is roughly standard..well as standard as a Sti RA can be......apart from a competition clutch......braided lines etc.....so the brakes are standard affairs with Pagid pads I believe...although i think these need changed.......I'll let you know when your towing me out of the tyre wall at Knockhill.... Paul thanks for the comments everyone...

thanks for the comments......and your right Grant....with the set up on this the handling is just unreal....I have never driven anything else like it in my life....

Gave the car a good clean after its little "test" run last weekend...the handling was just something to behold it really was.....just need to sort out the tyres now, once I've made a decision on those...thats the job done as far as I'm concerned.....so what you reckon...you like my McRae graphic..???????

lookin good George....

Gary I had the same problem with my track car, when the geometry was set up properly the wheels were rubbing on the Bilstein struts......after going through several cheaper spacer options..the only thing that worked was a pukka Eibach Competition wheel spacer kit which brought the rims out 15mm and included new extended studs and everything...lovely piece of engineering....and they fill the arches fantastic...looks great... my wheels and tyres by the way were Speedline Corse fitted with Pirelli Asphalt RE7 tyres 225/625(45)/17 hope this helps...although not sure about 18"...

jeeeez......John now I'm really confused....so I cant go searching for tyres 225/45/17 as possible replacements then......no idea what I need to get now..... arghhhhh need to check if there is any other info on the rims...cant see any sizes ...they are Speedline Corse Rally Wheels..... I presume they are 17"....

No they are definately that size, because when the car was being prepped it had to be fitted with snazzy Eibach competition wheel spacer kits...which were not cheap trust me....brought the wheels out and allowed for the fast road settings to be applied...but the tyres on at the moment are only for competition use....and Im annoyed to discover I will now have to fork out for 4 new tyres as well as everything else over the last few weeks.....the drive however is well worth it....just hope the change from competition tyres to a good road tyre doesnt compromise the stunning handling to much....

Can anyone advise.......the following size is on a competition Pirelli tyre....can anyone decifer it or tell me what the nearest "road tyre" size would be.......... 225/625/17 its the profile obviously that confuses me.......... anyone ?????? thanks in advance Paul

ach he's a determined wee soul isn't he.... you to doing a deal or what..... Gordon even got us to lower his seat at the last meeting just for the practice.....

Pete. It should tell you in the SIDC shop from one of the links above if its full or not...alternatively and probably easier is to search in members for JohnS....PM him as John organises the event and controls the number of slots..... Hope this helps...and if there are any spaces left I will see you on track... cheers Paul

mmmmm white sti...mmmmmmmm

yeah Mark he did.....took a lot of rooting around as a lot of the important stuff looked like it had been taken out as the car was in the process of being completely stripped when Jamie first bought it...but Dunc managed to track most of it down tucked into various places after completely taking out the dash board...but thankfully all came good in the end......so passed the MOT no worries...... Paul

thanks.....

thanks claire... you probably will Mike.....although trying to keep a low profile in a car like that is pretty difficult.... thanks for the comments Paul

some good pics there mate.. audi mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Grant.... Yes its the first Scoob with the infamous DCCD......will hopefully some day understand it enough to use it!!! No idea what diffs are on the car.... I feels like its got the quick rack fitted...although the smaller sparco steering wheel may be contributing to this feeling.......... Theres a lot of other high spec stuff fitted to the car to be honest.....some of which we only discovered once Duncan was pulling it apart at Hypertech..... and as for the adrenalin rush.....ah a very BIG YES to that one Grant....I can honestly say its like no other Impreza I have driven.......you can get a closer look at Knockhill hopefully....It will be available for viewing in the first tyre wall anytime after 1.01pm....... thanks Paul

snap Imy.... as I said earlier today in my post....I never really understood all this geometry stuff...but having driven that RA as its set up now....it makes a huge difference.....along with the slightly wider track on mine...plus the fast road set up from Hypertech....and the stunning grip of the fantastic tyres....its a great package... hope you enjoy yours..and yes bring on the run........ Paul

yes it was a good base to start of with.... just hope it still looks like that after Knockhill.....

thanks Gordon...... Oh I'm enjoying it already mate....

yip it did...many cold nights in the garage with a spray can and paint brush...... thanks for the comments

thanks for the comments folks.........your right Imy though....Jo is just as mad that she cant reach the pedals either...... but cant wait to Knockhill....just to try and see how the car handles properly....the coilover set up is just to solid for everyday roads....still good fun though out and about...

Finally got the Project RA on the road..... After working on it since early October finally got the chance to test the car in earnest yesterday afternoon. Many thanks to all those who either helped out or offered advice during the last few months, FrazA, TommyTCut, Gav @ Grieves....etc...and of course Jamie HiSoob........you all know who you are.....thanks my friends..... I would also like to add my thanks to Duncan and all the team at Hypertech, Bonnybridge. Duncan has had the car for the last 5 weeks or so and has had a toiled and troubled time sorting out various issues with the car....but what a job, as those who know me will realise this RA is my 5th Impreza and I was one of the non technical few who didnt appreciate all the conversations about the differences in geometry settings etc...however after Duncan has set the car up the drive is totally amazing, you were right Duncan it would make me smile.......so thanks again for all your help and assistance.... I also now understand the thinking behind the phrase "Here Duncan have my credit card"....... So the project continues......onwards and upwards I hope.....I can now plod away doing little tweaks every now and again...but all in all I am delighted with the car....... Looking forward to Knockhill and breaking my track virginity...I couldn't think of a better set up car to do it in..... Hope you all like it.... thanks Paul